Mobile track lifting apparatus



Sept. 22, 1964 F. PLASSER ETAL 3,149,578

. MOBILE TRACK LIFTING APPARATUS Filed 001;. 20, 1960 INVENTORS FRM/Z PLkSSER BY JOSE-F WEURER United States Patent Office 3,149,578 Patented Sept. 22, 1964 3,149,578 MOBILE TRACK LIFTING APPARATUS Franz Plasser and Josef Theurer, both of Iohannesgasse 3, Vienna, Austria Filed Oct. 20, 1960, Ser. No. 63,788 Claims priority, application Austria Oct. 20, 1959 3 Claims. (Cl. 104-7) The present invention relates to mobile track lifting apparatus.

When raising tracks by means of a jack whose shoe engages the ballast, the track is lifted, of course, not only at the exact point where the jack operates and the grading level is controlled but adjacent sections of the track are necessarily raised, too. This means that the track section rearwardly of the jack operating point is also slightly lifted although this section has already been graded to the desired level. Thus, this procedure entails undesirable grading errors.

If the track jack is mounted at the freely suspended forward end of a heavy mobile track tamper, the weight of the machine will hold the previously graded track section down so that only the uncorrected track section engaged by the jack will be raised. However, in railroad bed maintenance it is conventional to use relatively light carriages to fix the track temporarily at given intervals at a desired grade before the permanent tamping operation is effected. Such light track lifting carriages may be readily removed from the track at the approach of a train but their weight is not sufficient to hold the track section on which they stand down when the track jack is operated. If the light carriages were artificially weighted down, they would obviously become inefficient, cumbersome and difficult to remove from the track at the approach of a train.

It is an object of the present invention to utilize the weight of the uncorrected track section which is being raised to hold down the previously corrected track section which should desirably remain stationary while the ungraded track section is lifted to the desired grade.

This and other objects are accomplished in accordance with this invention by providing a mobile carriage whereon a support member is pivotally mounted in the range of, i.e. at or near, its rear end, the support member extending in the direction of the track. A ballast engaging element is mounted on the freely suspended forward end of the support member and one or more track clamping and lifting devices are mounted on the pivotal support member between the forward and rear ends.

When a track is lifted with this apparatus, the lifted track section is supported in part by the ballast engaging element and in part by the rear pivot of the supportmember. That portion of the track section weight which is supported by the rear pivot will exert a downward pressure on the previously graded track section underlying the rear pivot and will thus hold it stationary during raising of the uncorrected track section while the forward load will be transmitted excusively to the ballast by the ballast engaging element.

In accordance with one preferred embodiment of the invention, the effective length of the support member, which constitutes a one-armed lever, may be adjusted. This may be accomplished by making the length'of the support member adjustable, i.e. by making the support member of two or more telescoping elements which may be moved lengthwise in relation to one another, or by making the pivotal mounting means for the rear end of the support member longitudinally adjustable in the direction of the track.- For instance, if the pivotal mounting means is a transverse axle .mounted on the carriage, the bearing means for the axle may be a longitudinally extending slot wherein the axle may be fixed in different positions.

Preferably, the pivotal mounting means is positioned in the range of, i.e. at or near, the rear axle of the carriage so that the weight of the track lifting apparatus and the weight of the lifted track section which is supported by the pivotal mounting means are added together at this point for optimum results.

The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become more apparent in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the single figure of the accompanying drawing showing a schematic side view, partly in section, of a track lifting apparatus in accordance with this invention.

Referring now to the drawing, the mobile carriage 1 is shown to be mounted on front wheels 2 and rear wheels 3 running on track 11 which includes ties 12 resting on ballast 13. The track section underlying the rear wheels is assumed to have been graded and temporarily fixed at the desired grade level while the track section forwardly thereof (i.e. to the left of rear wheels 3 in the drawing) is to be raised to that level.

As shown, pivot 5 constituting a means for pivotally mounting the support member 4 on carriage 1 is coaxial with the axle of the carriage rear wheels. The freely suspended forward end of the support member, which extends in the direction of the track, is supported on the ballast by a hydraulic ballast engaging element 6 whose piston rod carries shoe 7 which engages the ballast.

A" first track clamping and lifting device 8 is mounted on the support member near its forward end and comprises a hydraulic cylinder and a rail clamping means mounted on its piston rod.

Hydraulic track jacks and track clamping and lifting devices are well known and any such conventional means may be used for the purposes of the present invention, these devices per se forming no part thereof aside from their combination with other elements thereof.

A second track clamping and lifting device similar 'to 8 is shown at 9 at a location about intermediate the rear and forward ends of the support member 4, track clamp ing and lifting devices 8, 9 being either fixedly or longitudinally adjustably mounted on the support member 4. Device 9 is mounted at a point where the track section is to be raised to a desired level. A tamper schematically indicated at 10 is mounted on the carriage adjacent the device 9 so that the track tie may be fixed at the desired grade level by tamping ballast thereunder. While the present invention is not concerned with any particular tamper, tampers of the type disclosed in our copending application Serial No. 5,228, filed January 28, 1960,

.now Patent No. 3,000,326, may be used, for instance.

In a conventional manner, the grade level may be determined by a contact roller 14 or a like rail sensing element mounted at the end of a measuring rod 15. The vertical measuring rod may carry a sensing element 16 whose contact with the horizontally extending tensioned wire 17 indicates that the desired grade level of the track has been reached. Asshown, the tensioned wire may be held taut by a guide roll 18 to establish a continuous reference line for obtaining a predetermined grade level. All this is known and forms no part of the present invention, except inasmuch as it constitutes a part of the total combination.

In using the apparatus of the present invention for raising a track section, an optimum effect and efficiency is obtained because the carriage will pin down the previously graded and tamped track section underlying the rear axle of the carriage whereby the track jack means positioned at or closer to the forward end of the carriage will lift the track in an ideally curving line from the substantially fixed rear point. The track jack closest to the fixed rear point is of essential importance for properly controlling the grade level of the lifted track section and, for this reason, a ballast tamper is preferably associated with this track jack so that the track may be fixedly positioned at this point. To avoid an upward bending of the track section by the track jacks positioned forwardly of the jack closest to the fixed rear point, the height of the rail clamping means of these jacks may be staggered so that the clamps of the forward jacks engage the rails later and thus automatically raise the track a little less than the more rearwardly positioned jacks.

The outstanding advantage of the track lifting apparatus of this invention resides in the fact that a considerable portion of the weight of the track section being lifted is transmitted by the pivotal support member 4 to pivot 5 Where it presses down on the previously graded track section underlying this pivot and thus tends to hold it in a fixed position. This effect may, of course, be further enhanced if the entire apparatus is so built that most of its weight is shifted into the range of the carriages rear axle. It is, for instance, advantageous to mount the heavy actuating mechanism for the apparatus above the rear axle, as schematically shown in the drawing. The lever action of pivoted supported member 4 may, as mentioned before, be adjusted according to desired conditions by varying the distances between the forward support 6, the track jacks and the pivot.

While the invention has been described in connection with a new preferred embodiment, it will be understood that many modifications and variations may occur to the skilled in the art, particularly after benefiting from the present teaching, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim is: I

l. A mobile track lifting apparatus comprising a carriage, a support member extending alongside the carriage and having a forward and a rear end, the support member extending in the direction of the-track, a ballast engaging element mounted vertically movably on the support member in the range of the forward end and supporting the support member forward end on the ballast, pivot means in the range of the support member rear end pivotally mounting the support member on the carriage for pivoting in a plane extending in the direction of the track, and at least one track clamping and lifting device mounted on the support member intermediate the ballast engaging element and rear end, lifting means for moving the forward end of said support member vertically to lift the support member forward end in relation to the ballast engaging element during lifting of the track.

2. A mobile track lifting apparatus comprising a can riage with front wheels mounted on a front axle and rear wheels mounted on a rear axle, a support member extending alongside the carriage and having a freely suspended forward end and a rear end, the support member extending in the direction of the track, a ballast engaging shoe mounted vertically movably on the freely suspended support member forward end for supporting the said forward end on the ballast, pivot means substantially coaxial with the rear axle and pivotally mounting the support member rear end on the carriage for pivoting in a plane extending in the direction of the track, and at least one track clamping and lifting device mounted on the support member intermediate the ballast engaging element and rear end, lifting means for moving the forward end of said support member vertically to lift the support member forward end in relation to the ballast engaging element during lifting of the track.

3. The mobile track lifting apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a ballast tamper adjacent the track lifting device closest to the rear end.

References tilted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A MOBILE TRACK LIFTING APPARATUS COMPRISING A CARRIAGE, A SUPPORT MEMBER EXTENDING ALONGSIDE THE CARRIAGE AND HAVING A FORWARD AND A REAR END, THE SUPPORT MEMBER EXTENDING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACK, A BALLAST ENGAGING ELEMENT MOUNTED VERTICALLY MOVABLY ON THE SUPPORTING THE SUPPORT MEMBER FORWARD END ON THE BALLAST, PIVOT MEANS IN THE RANGE OF THE SUPPORT MEMBER REAR END PIVOTALLY MOUNTING THE SUPPORT MEMBER ON THE CARRIAGE FOR PIVOTING IN A PLANE EXTENDING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACK, AND AT LEAST ONE TRACK CLAMPING AND LIFTING DEVICE MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT MEMBER INTERMEDIATE THE BALLAST ENGAGING ELEMENT AND REAR END, LIFTING MEANS FOR MOVING THE FORWARD END OF SAID SUPPORT MEMBER VERTICALLY TO LIFT THE SUPPORT MEMBER FORWARD END IN RELATION TO THE BALLAST ENGAGING ELEMENT DURING LIFTING OF THE TRACK. 